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Boil water advisory lifted for 11K Montgomery County residents

By FOX 29 Staff and Ellen Kolodziej
Updated  October 2, 2022 9:08pm EDT
Montgomery County
FOX 29 Philadelphia

Boil water advisory issued in Montgomery County due to increased risk of contamination

More than 11,000 customers in parts of Montgomery County have been advised to boil their water before consumption due to the increased risk of contamination.

NORRISTOWN, Pa. - Pennsylvania American Water lifted the boil water advisory initially issued September 30, due to a water main break in East Norriton. Officials say the issue is resolved.

More than 11,000 customers in parts of Montgomery County had been advised to boil their water before consumption due to the increased risk of contamination. 

According to Pennsylvania American Water, loss of positive water pressure was experienced after the water main break. 

West Reading, PA - June 15: A photo illustration of tap water in a clear glass drinking glass in West Reading, PA Tuesday afternoon June 15, 2021. (Photo by Ben Hasty/MediaNews Group/Reading Eagle via Getty Images)

"The loss of positive water pressure is a signal of the existence of conditions that could allow contamination to enter the distribution system through back-flow by back pressure or back siphonage," the agency said. "As a result, we are issuing a boil water advisory for customers in the affected area." 

The advisory was for customers in East Norriton, Whitpain, Plymouth townships and a part of Norristown Borough.

"When positive pressure is lost in the pipeline, there’s potential for organisms, dirt, things like that to enter the pipe, so the boil water is just to make sure that our customers are safe," Ed Farber, with the Norristown District of the Pennsylvania American Water Company said.

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Blue Bell resident Norm Pelletier said, "We’ve dealt with it before. This is a little longer than we’ve had in the past. Usually, it’s the same day or the next day, maybe, but in this case, it’s more like, I guess, over the weekend. Three or four days. It is a bit of a pain, but we’re getting by. We’ve been through worse."